We had the good fortune of connecting with Tamar Madrigal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tamar, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
After years of working for other companies and making their businesses stronger we kept fantasizing about the idea of having our own little shop of horrors. One of the biggest draws, I think, was being our own bosses. We wanted to have our own place in order to create and hopefully sell our art in all its forms. We’ve grown from not just selling our own clothing and art but to opening interactive art installations, using our space for other local artists and even sponsoring events to raise money for community needs. It’s very romanticized, owning your own business. You don’t get to leave it behind when you go home.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We just opened our latest interactive art installation called Wonderland Bang! Bang! which is an Alice in Wonderland glow electric shooting gallery. It’s 300 square feet of dark whimsical animatronics and fiber art characters. My partner, Brandon, built the animatronics and I made the characters costumes and props and together we made all the in between parts. There’s a forest of ten foot trees that are made from recycled fabrics and tees. We spent ten months building it and we are very excited about people seeing and getting to play it.

We have been open nearly seven years and it hasn’t been easy. It still isn’t. If the whole year had visitors like the summer does it would definitely be easier. We have plenty of reasons for visitors to our big historic downtown in the summer with the Arkansas River going right through downtown and the many surrounding trails. For the winter, however, it’s a bit of a struggle for the whole town with less visitors as nearby Monarch Mountain doesn’t have as big of a tourism draw as some of the larger ski towns. It’s really nice here in the winter, usually warmer than other places. Our little valley has been nicknamed the banana belt for that reason, one of the fall bike races through here bears the same name.

I’d say one of the biggest challenges is letting people know we’re here. Not everyone reads the paper, or listens to radio, or checks Google in their own town for activities. But we are here and we are weird.

One of my favorite things I’ve learned is that it’s okay that we aren’t for everyone. We watch a lot of people turn around and leave as soon as they walk in and we often wonder if they look at window displays before they go into a place. The warnings are all in the window. We sell collectible masks year round and we have a lot of horror themed and pop culture clothing and decor. And that’s not for everyone, and that’s ok. We have a lot of loyal customers who come see us every year from the front range and all over really. We love that. We have the best customers.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Breakfast at the Biker and the Baker is a must. They have a killer chef and mimosa flight, what else could you ask for. They have great coffee too, if that’s what you’re thinking.

We’d definitely hit Mt Princeton hot springs followed by lunch in nearby Buena Vista’s historic downtown.

Back to Salida for some shopping at my personal favorite the Hodgepodge for fabric and hobby materials as my best friend is also into fiber arts.

Cocktails at the Velveteen followed by Street Tacos from El Tapatio, we’ve just had the perfect first day.

The rest of the week consists of some hikes on trails right across the River from downtown, mountain biking and playing pool at the arcade.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My partner in life business and crime, Brandon Blake. He is the other half of Corvus Clothing and Curiosities. He’s always inspired me to step outside my comfort zone.

Website: Corvusescape.com

Instagram: corvusinsalida

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/corvusclothingandcuriosities/

Image Credits
Brandon Blake, Tamar Madrigal

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.